Webnovel Author In The Apocalypse World

The truth was far less polite than "disappeared." The Flamma Squad had actually said that Kim Haru had overestimated his own abilities and attempted to take on a mutated zombie, only to be caught and thrown into a horde of zombies.

What would come next was obvious: a feeding frenzy. The zombies would have torn him apart, and whether or not anything of him remained was up for debate.

Naturally, with Kim Haru supposedly gone, the Flamma Squad had seized his villa for themselves.

Although Kang Yeongseok found the Flamma Squad's behavior distasteful, it wasn't her place to intervene, as she had no connection to either side. At most, she had only insisted that the Flamma Squad had to wait a full month before transferring ownership of the villa. If Kim Haru didn't return within that time, only then would they consider making the transfer official.

But now that Kim Haru stood before her, Kang Yeongseok had to ask.

"They didn't take it; it's still mine," Kim Haru replied bluntly. He was definitely going to help the original owner settle this score. "Let's get down to business first."

Kang Yeongseok nodded in agreement.

Yes, business was more important.

Although she wasn't sure how Kim Haru had suddenly come into possession of such high-quality vegetables, she had risen to her current position by never underestimating anyone based on preconceived notions.

Meanwhile, the four members of the Delta Squad remained silent, acting as spectators. They hadn't expected Kang Yeongseok to know Mr. Kim, and from the sound of things, it seemed like Mr. Kim had run into some serious trouble. Since they didn't know the full story, they wisely kept quiet, but each of them mentally took note of the "Flamma Squad" and their involvement in this.

The team that no one had really heard of probably wasn't ranked above Delta Squad. Finding an opportunity to teach them a lesson on behalf of Mr. Kim shouldn't be a problem.

Kang Yeongseok then explained her purpose. "I heard from Woncheon that you have some high-grade vegetables here. I'm in charge of logistics for the Second District and was wondering if I could take a look? If the quality is as good as they say, we can discuss future purchases later. Don't worry, even for the sake of Wonchuan and his team, I'm not the type to lowball prices maliciously."

Kim Haru had no fear of being lowballed. He fully understood that his produce was currently part of a seller's market.

Kim Haru directly pulled out a cabbage, two potatoes, and a small handful of soybeans—about ten beans—from his system backpack.

Before he could even hand them over to Kang Yeongseok, she had already leaped to her feet and rushed over.

"Holy crap!" It was rare to hear Kang Yeongseok utter such an unrefined word.

She had never expected that the so-called high-quality vegetables were this good! Initially, she thought they might be A-grade, and S-grade hadn't even crossed her mind.

But who could've imagined that these vegetables could actually be special S-grade?

Forget the Second District—even in the First District, special S-grade ingredients were rare. Only the Central District might have more of them.

Kang Yeongseok rushed to the cabbage, instinctively reaching for it, but she remembered the owner was still standing there. She quickly asked, "Is it alright?"

Kim Haru nodded, signaling that she could go ahead.

Without hesitation, Kang Yeongseok tore off a leaf and stuffed it into her mouth.

The crisp texture, accompanied by a hint of sweetness, was so fresh that even raw, it felt like she could eat half of it in one go!

There wasn't even the slightest hint of the bitterness or strange aftertaste caused by the virus.

This was absolutely the taste of special S-grade ingredients.

In fact, a slightly crazy, almost impossible thought appeared in Kang Yeongseok's mind.

She wondered, could it be possible that the virus content in this cabbage was... zero?

Kang Yeongseok knew that this idea was far too crazy and unrealistic, but she just couldn't shake the thought from her head.

"...I need to test its virus content," she said, pulling a set of tools from the bag she carried with her.

Kim Haru allowed her to proceed without interference.

She tore off a piece of the cabbage and placed it in a small box, which shook a few times before revealing a small opening. She took out a test tube filled with liquid, opened it, and dropped a few drops into the box.

Then, she closed the box and waited.

Seeing Kim Haru's curiosity, Kang Yeongseok explained, "This liquid can combine with the mutated virus and change color based on the virus content. It was developed by the research institute and has been used in many places."

Oh, it's like pH test strips, Kim Haru thought.

He nodded in understanding.

He had no worries about the quality of the vegetables produced by the system.

As expected, about three minutes later, when Kang Yeongseok opened the box to check the results, she was immediately frozen in shock!

She had guessed correctly—the liquid was still clear. These were truly virus-free vegetables.

This… this…

For a moment, Kang Yeongseok didn't even know what to say.

Shin Woncheon's four teammates saw the results as well and exchanged glances. While they had anticipated this outcome, they couldn't help but feel a deep sense of awe.

How long had it been since the world fell into this apocalyptic state? How long had it been since humanity had managed to grow a single vegetable free from the slightest trace of the mutagenic virus? Forget vegetables, even common plants had shown no signs of being free from mutation in years.

It's been almost ten years since the world plunged into chaos.

Kim Haru couldn't fully grasp the emotions of those who had been living in this world for so long. When he noticed that Kang Yeongseok remained silent after seeing the result, he couldn't help but tap his fingers on the table to get her attention.